XP Conversations - Molham: Pushing the Boundaries of A-Pop

Saudi Arabian artist, songwriter, and entrepreneur Molham is one of the driving forces behind the A-pop movement, which - as he puts it - had not fully developed at the time that he took to making music. Mixing between influences of indie-pop, hip-hop, and traditional Saudi music, Molham recalls facing difficulty categorizing his sound, even with streaming platforms and labels when submitting to playlists. Nowadays, Molham prefers to just call it pop to avoid confusion around the topic. Nevertheless, his impact on the genre is still felt to this day, having used the term ‘A-pop’ as early as 2020, long before it became as widespread as it is today.

In this XP Conversation, Molham tells us about experimenting with his sound over the years, and the early days of A-pop and how artists organically defined the genre as it developed. He also talks about his life-changing drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi with a friend who convinced him to pursue his music career, and how he got the opportunity to reconnect with collaborators at 2023’s edition of XP Music Futures.

Watch the full interview here: